Northern Ireland: Aggregates Levy Relief Scheme

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My honourable friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Healey) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Government are extending the aggregates levy relief scheme in Northern Ireland. The relief, which will continue to cover aggregate in processed products, will be extended to cover virgin aggregate exploited in Northern Ireland. Instead of the relief reducing annually until it ended in April 2007, the level of relief will now be fixed at 80 per cent of the full rate from 1 April 2004 and it will apply until 31 March 2011. The introduction of the new scheme follows notification from the European Commission on 7 May that the Government's proposals for extended relief have received state aid clearance.
	Quarry operators in Northern Ireland will be able to claim the extended relief straight away, provided that they enter into agreements that will commit them to making significant environmental improvements to the way their operations are run. Initially operators will need to satisfy the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland (DoENI) that they hold or have applied for relevant regulatory authorisations, and enter into an agreement with DoENI, which will commit businesses to arrange a site audit, agree site-specific targets and comply with the code of practice for the aggregates industry in Northern Ireland. Continued eligibility for relief will depend on businesses meeting their agreed environmental targets, which will be regularly monitored and reviewed.

Public Audit (Wales) Bill

Lord Evans of Temple Guiting: The regulatory impact assessment (RIA) that accompanied the Public Audit (Wales) Bill upon its introduction to the House of Lords on 27 November 2003 included an estimate of £500,000 for the set-up costs of the Wales Audit Office (WAO). The WAO is the new body that would comprise the Auditor General and his staff under the arrangements provided for in the Bill.
	The estimate dated back to April 2003 when the Bill was first published in draft form for public consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny. It was acknowledged in the RIA and during pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill in the summer of 2003 that it was very hard to provide a more definitive estimate at such an early stage. The figure of £500,000 remained the best estimate available at the time of the Bill's introduction.
	On 6 May the National Assembly Audit Committee gave consideration to and accepted a paper prepared by the Auditor General that identified set-up costs of £987,000. The costing, which is the product of a detailed costing analysis undertaken jointly by the National Audit Office and the Audit Commission in Wales over recent months, is also subject to consideration by the National Assembly for Wales Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services.
	The £987,000 figure includes £147,000 for value-added tax and £120,000 for the cost of a specialist project manager to oversee the set-up arrangements. These items were not included in the early estimate of £500,000 and account for over half the difference in cost. The figure also includes information and communications technology costs of £350,000.
	The other categories of cost comprised in the overall figure relate to:
	the acquisition and implementation of finance and human resource systems at £ 180,000;
	the establishment of Internet and intranet facilities and related communication costs such as stationery and signage at £80,000;
	the development costs of audit support software and a unified audit manual at £55,000;
	minor accommodation alterations; related specialist support services such as facilities management and legal costs at £55,000.
	The Bill RIA will be amended to take account of the change in costing.